Scared To Sleep...

[MissKat]

I haven't fully told my story about what happened on these forums quite yet but I will definatley try to when I'm having a better day, I just need to get some of this out of my system.

I didn't really start having consistent nightmares until recently. I had some spaced out ones a couple of months back, but they have gotten worse over the past month or so. I'd had have one at least once a week sometimes multiple nights in a row. I'm just so fed up and want them to stop, there's been nights were I've stayed up until the wee hours of the morning out of the morning trying to avoid it if I can. I'm not sure what triggers them but I'm so sick of dealing with it I just want to sleep, I dont want to be reminded of what happened, I dont want to "relive" the moments, in a sense.....I'm just fed up and tired of these vivid dreams.....

 

[EveHarrington]

:hug:

 

[Mim28]

Hi MissKat,
I know how that feels. I've tried staying up. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't. Ultimately my sleep pattern gets thrown off, which makes it worse. I've been able to wake myself from the dreams, which is helpful. I take time to calm myself down and that helps too. I try to think of something else and redirect myself back to sleep.

Have you tried journaling your dreams? Are these things you have discussed with your T? if not, you might want to bring it up.
I wish you a peaceful nights sleep.
Mim

 

[Abstract]

I am so very sorry you are experiencing this. I experienced it for very very many years and many before I even acknowledged it. I now mostly don't and I truly hope that happens for you.

What helps you feel safer? What helped me was to ignore what others were telling me should help and to rather trust myself. A big ask,

 

[lostforgottensoul]

.I'm just fed up and tired of these vivid dreams

Oh do I know this feeling! My dreams and nightmares are so vivid that it takes me forever after waking to know it wasn't real. And it's harder as aspects of reality make in there. So like I was taking a nap and the washer was going so in my dream i was doing laundry and so when I woke up i thought i needed to change the laundry but it wasn't mine but roommate's.

Things on tv will do that and people talking, conversation, will do that.

I used to dream (back in my early 20s before they all flaked on me) that my family were murdered in front of me. A new night was a new family member(s) and i was known of making 2am calls to see if they were ok.

It's harder when they are bad nightmares from trauma!

I am also a very active sleeper. Walking in my sleep, running in my sleep, hiding in the closet, once went outside, and hurting myself in my sleep.

There is one medication and people rave about on here and call it "nightmare meds", clonidine. It's a blood pressure medication and when your blood pressure lowers a bit, it disrupts you REM (dreaming) sleep. I don't remember all of the science behind why it works but it does work. My BP is already lower due to pain medication so i thought i couldnt take it but my pain Dr put it in my pain pump for neuropathy and it didn't really drop my BP any lower. I mean if its scary low i wouldnt but mine was over 100 (top number) most time. 100 is where that top number likes to hang out but has dipped to 80. 80/60 i believe. It only did that once. I checked my BP every day for 3 weeks after it was put in my pain pump and then each time he increased it and never has it dropped. And the nightmares eased a lot and my activity slowed. If i had a nightmare then i would or would wake up but the hurt myself and ending up in strange places stopped.

When my mom died is when this new increase of nightmares have happened. So i try to make the last thing I do is some DBT self soothing and I sleep with a teddy bear and a super soft body pillow. I try also to read some uplifting stuff to place my mind in a positive area right before falling asleep. That seems to help a little bit.

What I am waiting for is the MyBivy for a smart phone and an android wear watch, which Id pay anything for if it helps. It was on Kickstarter last year and their site says it will be avil this year. Its later this year. They are also taking donations for vets, which is awesome, i just hope it will be avail for everyone.

Here is that:
Dead Link Removed

myBivy

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Other then that, the only other thing that helps is sleeping meds. They don't stop the nightmares but they help me to actually fall asleep and I think stay asleep more then I would have with out it.

I'm sorry you are suffering with nightmares too. Hopefully one day someone will find a way to make us have pleasent dreams only.

I've heard of luicid dreaming and you know you are dreaming and can turn it around to being good but i haven't been able to. And I think that would freak me out lol.

 

[Swemoor]

Hello, I've been having nightmare recently too, I know what triggers them and is when I see something that reminds me what happened. I tried to stay awake but my nightmares only got worse, I used to wake up scared, scared of being awake and scared to sleep again.

I told my psychiatrist about it and he sent me antipsychotics, I didn't take them at first because I didn't want to take antipsychotics again but as they got worse I started taking them and my nightmares stopped...

But also I try to distract myself before sleeping, what I do is drawing before sleeping and avoiding possible triggers during my day...

I don't know if this helps, I hope you get better :)

 

[lostforgottensoul]

antipsychotics,

I take 250mg Seriquel XR (extended release) for a different reason but I guess I can say they help a little bit. They keep my emotions a bit more even so the terror isn't as bad.

Most that take it for sleep take immediate release, generic quetiapine (extended release doesn't have a generic yet in the US) and it seems to help. Lots of threads about quetiapine and seriquel and most are about immediate release. It WILL help you sleep. I can say that.

Something to look into. Abilify is also an anti-psycotic. Given in lower doses for depression, bipolar, all sorts of reasons.

 

[joeylittle]

but they have gotten worse over the past month or so. I'd had have one at least once a week sometimes multiple nights in a row. I'm just so fed up and want them to stop, there's been nights were I've stayed up until the wee hours of the morning out of the morning trying to avoid it if I can.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. I've got the same issue. It isn't as bad as it was before I started working through the trauma, but it also comes and goes in cycles, depending (I think) on what area of my trauma I'm working on.

Sleep is worth fighting for, even if you need to use medication for a little bit. If you decide to look into that option, and you haven't taken any medication before, what you'll start with should depend on what your overall symptom profile is right now. There are almost too many options to name - but the goal is to use the least invasive option possible.

Are you able to sleep during the day? I know this is not a great long-term solution, but it's sometimes the option on the table for the short-term. For me, night-time is a general stressor, but I can usually sleep in the day without help. Harder now that there's less daylight in our part of the world...

 

[hodge]

I, too, sleep best in the morning hours after dawn. I have a prescription for clonidine, but I've learned to not take it after 7 or 8 in the morning, unless I'm on a desperate day to not have nightmares. It works well to make me not remember my nightmares, but it also has the effect of making me so sleepy if I take it that late in the morning, then I'm not good for doing anything the next day except lying on the couch. Ugh. It's really good if you can get to sleep at night and don't wake up multiple times in the middle of the night.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

@hodge, clonidine makes you tired? I wouldn't of thought since its a BP med. Its in liquid form as a spinal drip in my case so much different. I just didn't know it made you tired.

@MissKat, Sleep is absolutly worth fighting for. If you can nap a bit during the day, that may help too.

Like I can nap for 45 mins to an hour and be more alert and leas tired. Though if i get less or more then I am worse off. So i'll go in our mediation/lounge room at work and sleep for 45 mins of my hour lunch and end up eating lunch while working. It isn't what I would want to do but in the days that I get 2 hrs of sleep, i don't have much of a choice.

So if you can't sleep in the day then naps might be worth while.

I also agree to the easier to sleep in the day and on my days off i sleep through the entire day. But its partly because i am up all night. Night time is also a stressor for me and very hard for me as it's overall dark.

So I will nap through my lunch on those super hard days.

Also remember that things like caffeine involve a crash usually. My therapist made a point to remind me of this as I was and am using it to help with my exhaustion but it is good to remember that it works against what you want (to be awake) by crashing and then it makes it harder to sleep and can add to general restlessness.

An app for my phone (or tablet or 'reader' like a kindle) that took off the blue tint helps a lot. Twightlight was the app i settled with (android) which you can pause from the top menu whoch is nice. But it helps to not allow that to keep you up.

Making your bedroom better for sleep can help to stay asleep as well. I learned that by making my room a bit more sleep friendly. I don't have issue going to sleep but i have issue staying asleep. Making my bedroom more sleep friendly led to sleeping deeper and that led to staying asleep more.

I hope something helps as I understand sleep deprivation and it's not fun. Nor is nightmares.

 

[BuckarooBanzai]

Yes, I went through a period like that; I was afraid to go to sleep and would prop myself up at night to try to stay awake. I became seriously sleep deprived.

I take Benadryl to help me sleep when necessary. I've found it works a LOT better than the prescription sleep aids, and it doesn't have the dangerous side-effects they have.

 

[looking4help]

Hi,i am new here.,i have ptsd and am terrified to go to bed at night because i have nightmares and wake up shaking and sweating..it feels good to have found a website where people can identify with that.i